Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Final Exam Review

Chapters 16 & 17

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Why did new democracies set up after WWI fail?

• A lack of democratic tradition;• the Treaty of Versailles caused

anger and resentment;• Economic devastation of

Europe.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What are the characteristics of a totalitarian state?

• Complete control over citizens;• Ruthless suppression of opposition.

Fascist Italy – Benito MussoliniNazi Germany – Adolf HitlerCommunist Soviet Union – Josef StalinFascist Spain – Francisco Franco

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What law did America’s Congress pass to maintain its foreign policy of isolationism?• Neutrality Acts– Outlawed arm sales or loans to warring nations;– Banned arm sales to nations engaged in civil war.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What actions did Japanese militarists take in the 1930s that alarmed Americans?

• The surprise attack of Chinese province of Manchuria rich in natural resources and “living space.”

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What was the name of the treaty that ended World War I?

• Treaty of Versailles

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Why did the German people hate the treaty?

• War-Guilt Clause (humiliation)• Great economic depression • Massive war reparations• High unemployment• Loss of territory & colonial

possessions• Reduction of military forces

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

• What country did Britain and France allow Hitler to take because of the policy of appeasement?

• Czechoslovakia

• What country did Hitler attack that finally forced Britain and France to declare war?

• Poland

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What was appeasement, and why did Churchill oppose it so strongly?

• An attempt to do whatever was necessary to pacify Hitler;

• Churchill saw this as an abandonment of moral principles that would lead to war and a national disaster.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What was the Battle of Britain?

• Aerial defense of Great Britain from pending German invasion;

• Britain now stood alone against the German onslaught.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Describe the non-aggression pact.

• Commitment by fascist Germany and communist Soviet Union never to attack one another;

• Divided Poland between the two dictators;• Allowed Hitler to concentrate on a one-front war.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

How did Roosevelt help the Allies?

• America becomes the “Great Arsenal of Democracy” by lending or leasing arms and other supplies “to any country whose defense was vital to the United States.”

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

How did Germany prevent American goods from reaching Great Britain?

• U-boats attacking in wolf packs

What does the US do to deal with this threat?

• Convoy System including:– Use of sonar and radar– Airborne patrols– Armed destroyers

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Why was the Atlantic Charter important?

• It set forth the war aims of the Allies.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What does WAAC stand for and what was the function of its members?

• Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps

• Noncombat positions– Nurses– Ambulance drivers– Radio operators– Electricians– Pilots

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Describe the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad.

• 1,100,000 Soviet soldiers killed (more than all American deaths in war)

• Marks turning point• Germany now in retreat

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What basic problems were the Office of Price Administration (OPA) & War Production Board

(WPA) created to solve?

• Controlling inflation • Managing shortages• Making sure that the

armed forces and war industries got the resources they needed.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What attack precipitated America’s entry into WWII?

• The Japanese attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Who was the American commander of the Allied campaigns in North Africa and Europe?

• Dwight D. Eisenhower

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Who was the American commander of US forces fighting the Japanese in the Pacific?• Douglas MacArthur

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What was the Manhattan Project?

• The top-secret American development of the atomic bomb.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Why did Truman use the A-Bomb against Japan?

• Viewed the bomb as a military weapon

• Force unconditional surrender

• Limit US killed & wounded

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What act of Congress allowed returning veterans to go to college for free?

• GI Bill of Rights– Education and training– Home, farm , or new

business loans

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

What caused the race riots in the 1940s?

• Discrimination;• Racism;• the concentration of minorities in cities.

Homan, American Cultures, Key Concepts

Why did President Roosevelt order the internment of Japanese Americans?

• Because some Americans perceived them as a threat to national security.